Sound field amplification (SFA) in the classroom has proven beneficial with regard to children paying attention to the teacher, behaviors, speech understanding, academic outcome, and teacher vocal health. Crandell, Smaldino, and Flexer (2005) examined many of these issues in depth in their 2005 textbook on the same subject.
As is well known and has been often documented, acoustic standards for noise levels and reverberations times are generally not achieved in classrooms. Indeed, classrooms represent "poor listening environments" for the majority of young children. When one combines poor classroom acoustics with inherent high demands on the child's auditory processing and listening skills, the classroom creates "barriers to learning that place all children at educational risk" (page 18).
Millett and Purcell (2010) examined changes in reading outcomes based on 486 Canadian students in first grade. The study compared 12 classrooms using SFA and 12 not using SFA for a one-year period. The two classroom demographic profiles were essentially matched with respect to number of students, gender, etc. Although the outcome differences in the SFA versus the non-SFA classrooms did not reach statistical differences, "a trend showing a greater percentage of students reading at grade level in the amplified (SFA) classrooms was seen...(as) compared to a decrease...in the unamplified classrooms...." Teacher experiences from the SFA experience were extremely positive.
For More Information, References, and Recommendations
Crandell CC, Smaldino JJ, Flexer C. (2005) Sound Field Amplification—Applications to Speech Perception and Classroom Acoustics. 2nd ed. Thomson Delmar Learning – Singular.
Millett P, Purcell N. (2010) Effect of Sound Field Amplification on Grade 1 Reading Outcomes. Canadian Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology. 31(4):17-24.